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Lesson 1:
Russian Alphabet
Lesson 2:
Numbers
Lesson 3:
Do you speak English?
Lesson 4:
Greetings
Grammar
Quickstart |
Lesson 3: Do you speak English?
As a traveler, you need some basic phrases to help you navigate in new
situations. Usually, the first thing you want to find out is whether someone
speaks English. Or people may ask you if you speak Russian. (You can impress
them when you show you understood by answering "No.") Finally, you need to
be able to ask how to say things in Russian or find out what a Russian word
means in English.
Note: Stressed syllables are in bold face type.
| Do you speak English? |
Вы говорите
по-английски?
(Vy gavarit'e pa-anglijski?) |
Yes, I do. (No, I
don't)
literally:
Yes, (I) speak.
(No, (I) not speak.) |
Да, говорю.
(Нет, не говорю.)
(Da, gavarju. N'et, n'i gavarju.) |
| Do you speak Russian? |
Вы говорите
по-русски?
(Vy gavarit'e pa-russki?) |
Yes, I do. (No, I
don't)
literally:
Yes, (I) speak.
(No, (I) not speak.) |
Да, говорю.
(Нет, не говорю.)
(Da, gavarju. N'et, n'i gavarju.) |
| Do you understand English? |
Вы понимаете
по-английски?
(Vy panimajit'e pa-anglijski?) |
Yes, I do. (No, I
don't)
literally:
Yes, (I) understand.
(No, (I) not understand.) |
Да, понимаю.
(Нет, не понимаю.)
(Da, panimaju.
N'et, n'i panimaju.) |
How do you say (
) in Russian?
literally: How to say in Russian ( )? |
Как сказать
по-русски ( )?
(Kak skazat' pa-russki ( )?) |
What does ( )
mean in English?
literally: What means in English ( )
? |
Что
значит по-английски (
)?
(Shto znachit pa-anglijski ( )?) |
Things to notice:
- In Russian, you don't always have to use subject pronouns (I, you, he,
she, it, we, you, they). See "I don't speak." where "I" is left off in
Russian. That's because the verb form itself shows that it means "I
speak." Compare говорю (I speak) and говорите (you speak).
- In English, we use the verb "do" all the time to make and respond to
questions. In Russian, they don't have an all-purpose verb like "do," so
they repeat the "meaningful" verb in the response.
Compare the response to: Do you speak English?
Yes, I do. -- Да, говорю.
(lit. Yes, I speak.)
Learning Aids:
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